Chapter 70

Qi Zhun hadn’t expected that the Lin Du, whom Shao Fei described as having only cultivation power and intelligence but no self-defense ability, would actually be like this.

Calm and composed, Lin Du even dared to turn the tables and question him.

But why?

Suddenly, Lin Du spoke, “Before I die, can I see your true appearance?”

Qi Zhun’s eyes flickered, and his body trembled even more violently. He thought it was the peak of his backlash, so without delay, he reached out to grab Lin Du’s throat.

“Still mute? I don’t recall…” Lin Du said as the fan in her hand sharply smacked Qi Zhun’s hand with precise accuracy.

Qi Zhun only felt colder, as if the fan’s chill had frozen his bones in an instant.

The pale young man before him looked up with a smile. “There was a mute cultivator who came from the Lan Ju Realm.”

Qi Zhun’s face twisted immediately. His teeth chattered louder and louder from the cold, and his eyes widened.

“Surprised?”

“You don’t look your age, but the power of your spirit is strong.”

Lin Du kept one hand behind her back and effortlessly blocked Qi Zhun’s attacks with the other. “This body of yours seems odd. Promise me, next time you get sick, don’t follow the textbook so literally.”

Though Lin Du had been speaking the whole time, and Qi Zhun trembled like an old washing machine on its last legs, she still got the answer she was expecting.

“Good.” Lin Du said, her hand behind her back moving suddenly. A piece of dark metal quietly landed just three inches behind her. It was dark, and her opponent hadn’t noticed.

Then she smiled, lifted her foot, and kicked hard, meeting Qi Zhun’s raised arm. “Your body is at its limit now. What makes you think you can control me?”

Qi Zhun blocked the kick and finally spoke, his voice trembling. “And what makes someone as smart as you, trapped in a body so weak that you can do nothing but cultivate, think you can resist me?”

Lin Du tilted her head slightly, gathering spiritual energy in her right hand until it was fully charged. She suddenly struck with her fist.

Good thing she had taken an antidote pill earlier during dinner, so even if her spiritual power couldn’t completely shield her, she wouldn’t get poisoned.

This punch was the same as the one she used to shatter the thick ice of Luo Ze during her training.

Qi Zhun had also been building up his power, gathering the last of his strength to launch a sinister attack. It felt as though the punch landed in a quagmire, absorbing most of the impact.

But that didn’t matter.

Xia Tianwu had told her that the current Qi Zhun could be taken down by even Yuan Ye unless he burned his own body’s life force and accelerated his backlash, which might bring him up to Mo Lin’s level.

Lin Du instinctively trusted Xia Tianwu.

Except for cooking and alchemy, Xia was usually reliable.

So Lin Du’s punch, wrapped in a dense frost and carrying an icy energy that Qi Zhun hated, broke through the odd resistance and landed directly on his chest.

Qi Zhun’s eyes widened as he roared in disbelief, “How is this possible?”

A physically weak person, someone with only cultivation power and no apparent body training, had shattered his strongest move with a simple punch powered by her own spiritual energy.

Lin Du’s fist pressed firmly against his chest, the force not yet fully spent.

The spiritual energy smashed into his chest, sinking her fist into his body with a dull thud.

Qi Zhun slowly lowered his head and saw his chest collapse inward before he fell heavily to the ground.

Lin Du retracted her fist, standing over Qi Zhun with deep, dark eyes, declaring, “You’re definitely not human.”

Qi Zhun tried weakly to smile but found his body too drained to respond. He finally gave up. “Didn’t I already say that earlier? Why are you only sure now?”

“I was bluffing before,” Lin Du replied calmly, eyes downcast. “Now I’m certain.”

When her fist hit, there was no heartbeat inside his chest.

Qi Zhun tried to laugh but ended up coughing. A dark mist began to escape from his rigid body.

The wind howled like the cries of ghosts.

The pale robes on Lin Du fluttered slightly in the breeze, but she remained unfazed. “I’ll give you one last chance. Answer all my previous questions.”

“You already know I came from the Lan Ju Realm, so you know the strength of my spirit. It’s not something a mere child like you can match. Why did you provoke me earlier?”

The voice had now fully transformed into that of a pure spirit, filled with the malevolent tone of a vengeful ghost, each word dripping with the anguish of centuries.

“I just want to live. Thousands of years have passed, and that desire hasn’t changed. Now, it’s even stronger.”

“If heaven won’t let me live, I’ll fight to live! If you won’t let me live, then you die!”

Lin Du’s spiritual power surged out again as she channeled it into the fan. She suddenly knelt, pressing the fan into the ground, and in an instant, radiant light erupted.

She looked up, her eyes filled with a mocking glint. “Let me teach you one last lesson: never leave a formation master with enough time to set up her formation in her own territory.”

A spirit that had lived for thousands of years, with all its accumulated resentment—she had already defeated countless spirits like that. Why would this one, with its ruined body, be any different?

Golden light shone brightly from all around the village, forming intricate lines across the ground, intersecting and weaving into a complex formation that finally coalesced into a brilliant formation. The golden light flared, sealing the spirit.

Lin Du stood up straight, raising her hand. A cold golden light shot out from behind her, piercing through the night and forming an formation pattern suspended above their location.

The wind suddenly stopped. The spirit attacking Lin Du was suppressed by the formation, immobilized and struggling in fear, constantly changing shapes.

“You’re not…”

“When did you set up this formation? There was only a diamond wall around the village when I came out!”

The diamond wall could trap malevolent spirits but didn’t have the power to press down or eliminate them.

Lin Du suddenly bent a few fingers as if beckoning. The formation pattern above them pressed heavily down upon the spirit.

Qi Zhun let out a pained scream.

“So, you’re an outsider,” she said with a slow, deliberate tone in the chilling night. “Let me introduce myself again. I’m Lin Du, the ninety-ninth generation disciple of the Supreme Sect, under the guidance of the formation master, Immortal Yan Ye.”

“This is just an internal formation, set up only at the last moment.”

“In my domain, I am the formation itself. Wherever I am, the formation is.”

“Now, answer my questions, or for every moment you delay, the pressure of the formation will increase by an inch, and your spirit will be compressed by an inch. I’m sure the pressure on your spirit is worse than the backlash on your body, isn’t it?”

“You deliberately misled Shao Fei with false information?” the dark mist cursed in agony.

“The first question: did you eat that child during the day?”

Lin Du’s demeanor remained calm, her pale face illuminated with a holy light from the golden glow.

Seeing that Qi Zhun didn’t answer, she bent her fingers again.

The formation pattern descended another inch.

Qi Zhun twisted into a ball of black, indistinguishable matter in agony, “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! Yes, it was me!”

“Very well.” Lin Du smiled, though her voice grew colder and colder. “As a reward for your cooperation, let’s press down another foot.”